1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
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Conference Big Ten Conference
1946–47 record 14–6 (8–4 Big Ten)
Head coach Douglas R. Mills
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Wally Roettger
MVP Jack Smiley
Captain Selected each game
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1945–46 1947–48 »
1946–47 Big Nine Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Wisconsin 9 – 3   .750     16 – 6   .727
Illinois 8 – 4   .667     14 – 6   .700
Indiana 8 – 4   .667     12 – 8   .600
Minnesota 7 – 5   .583     14 – 7   .667
Michigan 6 – 6   .500     12 – 8   .600
Iowa 5 – 7   .417     12 – 7   .632
Ohio State 5 – 7   .417     7 – 13   .350
Purdue 4 – 8   .333     9 – 11   .450
Northwestern 2 – 10   .167     7 – 13   .350
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946–47 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1946-47 season would be the last year that Doug Mills would be the head coach of the Fighting Illini, however; he would remain as the University of Illinois athletic director until 1966. During his tenure at the helm, Mills' coached 217 games over 11 seasons. Overall his teams won 151 games and lost only 66, the 151 wins remains 4th all-time in Illini history. During the Big Ten Conference season, Mills' teams won 88 games while losing only 47. Included in the 88 wins would be back-to-back conference titles in 1942 and 1943 where his teams would go 35-6 overall and 25-2 in the conference. Amazingly, Mills' three championships ('37, '42, '43) in just 11 years, place him just one behind Harry Combes, his replacement as head coach, for the most conference championships.

An attempt to regroup the 'Whiz Kids' occurred during the 1946-47 season when Ken Menke, Gene Vance, and Andy Phillip returned from their service in World War II. Unfortunately, the chemistry was not the same and the team finished in a tie for second in the conference with a record of 8 wins, 4 losses. Overall, the team finished with a 14-6 record. The starting lineup included 4 of the 5 Whiz Kids, guards Smiley and Vance, forwards Phillip and Ken Menke as well as All-American guard Walt Kirk and Fred Green at center.

Roster

No Player Position Height Weight Class Hometown High School
7 Robert Menke Center 6' 3" 185 Sophomore Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School
8 Roy Gatewood Forward 6' 2" 182 Freshman Salem, Illinois Salem High School
9 Dick Foley Guard 6' 0" 155 Sophomore Paris, Illinois Paris High School
10 Bill Edwards Forward 6' 2" 180 Sophomore Paris, Illinois Paris High School
11 Jack Burmaster Guard 6' 2" 182 Junior Elgin, Illinois Elgin High School
14 Walt Kirk Guard 6' 3" 175 Junior Mt. Vernon, Illinois Mt. Vernon High School
15 Arthur Smiley Guard 6' 3" 195 Senior Waterman, Illinois Waterman High School
16 Bob Doster Forward 6' 1" 165 Sophomore Decatur, Illinois Decatur High School
19 Bob Rowe Center 6' 7" 200 Sophomore Warren, Illinois Warren High School
21 Ray DeMoulin Forward 6' 1" 170 Sophomore Mulberry Grove, Illinois Mulberry Grove High School
24 Burdette Thurlby Forward 6' 2" 170 Freshman Kirkland, Illinois Kirkland High School
25 Gene Vance Guard 6' 3" 196 Senior Clinton, Illinois Clinton High School
26 Chet Trost Forward 6' 3" 175 Sophomore Champaign, Illinois Champaign Central High School
27 Craig Hal Forward 6' 0" 160 Junior Decatur, Illinois Decatur High School
29 Dwight Humphrey Forward 5' 9" 145 Sophomore Moline, Illinois Moline High School
30 Walter Osterkorn Center 6' 4" 195 Freshman Chicago, Illinois Amundsen High School
31 Stanley Fronczak Guard 6' 2" 190 Junior Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn High School
33 Bill Erickson Forward 6' 1" 173 Freshman Rockford, Illinois East High School
34 Benton Odum Forward 6' 0" 172 Freshman Marion, Illinois Marion High School
36 Jim Marks Forward 6' 2" 175 Freshman Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville High School
38 Ken Menke Forward 6' 0" 172 Senior Dundee, Illinois Dundee High School
39 Bob Lavoy Center 6' 6" 185 Freshman Aurora, Illinois West Aurora High School
40 Dwight Eddleman Forward 6' 2" 190 Sophomore Centralia, Illinois Centralia High School
47 Andy Phillip Forward 6' 2" 184 Senior Granite City, Illinois Granite City High School
48 Fred Green Center 6' 7" 210 Sophomore Urbana, Illinois Urbana High School

Record

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 6, 1946 Cornell 87–39 Win Champaign, IL 7,892
December 11, 1946 Marquette 73–40 Win Champaign, IL 7,697
December 14, 1946 Pittsburgh 58–31 Win Champaign, IL 7,855
December 16, 1946 Missouri 50–55 Loss Columbia, MO 4,470
December 20, 1946 California 58–41 Win Berkeley, CA 7,000
December 21, 1946 California 35–53 Loss Berkeley, CA 7,000
December 28, 1946 Nebraska 72–37 Win Champaign, IL -
January 1, 1947 Wisconsin 47–53 Loss Madison, WI 7,900
January 4, 1947 Mexico 94–36 Win Champaign, IL 7,851
January 6, 1947 Minnesota 31–34 Loss Champaign, IL 7,875
January 11, 1947 Northwestern 55–40 Win Champaign, IL 6,600
January 13, 1947 Ohio State 61-42 Win Champaign, IL 7,600
January 25, 1947 Wisconsin 63–37 Win Champaign, IL 7,685
February 1, 1947 Ohio State 59–58 Win Columbus, OH -
February 5, 1947 Purdue 42–51 Loss West Lafayette, IN 11,000
February 8, 1947 Iowa 45–36 Win Champaign, IL 7,879
February 15, 1947 Indiana 59–50 Win Champaign, IL 7,874
February 22, 1947 Northwestern 52–51 Win Chicago, IL 24,000
February 24, 1947 Michigan 45–36 Win Ann Arbor, MI -
March 1, 1947 Indiana 41–48 Loss Bloomington, IN -

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Andy Phillip 20 81 30 192
Ken Menke 20 72 36 180
Fred Green 20 72 25 169
Jack Smiley 20 56 38 150
Gene Vance 20 49 37 135
Walt Kirk 19 31 22 84
Bill Erickson 20 27 7 61
Jack Burmaster 15 15 4 34
Bob Doster 12 12 7 31
Dick Foley 16 11 4 26
Bob Lavoy 11 7 11 25
Dwight Eddleman 10 5 2 12
Benton Odum 2 4 3 11
Dwight Humphrey 11 4 0 8
Wally Osterkorn 8 1 4 6
Ron Bontemps 4 0 2 2
Burdette Thurlby 4 0 1 1
Robert Rowe 5 0 0 0
Roy Gatewood 2 0 0 0

[2]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
  2. ↑ Season Stats
  3. ↑ List of MVPs
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